Forwards' Anaerobic Endurance Test

• To aid competitiveness, players are placed in groups of five based on their position (front row as one group, locks and back row as another group) with one tester per player, armed with a stopwatch
• Each player is allocated a lane

The forwards course is laid out as follows:

 
Each set of the test is a single or multiple laps of the same basic repetition.

The basic repetition is as follows:

• The player starts by laying on his front with his chest in contact with the floor and head on the starting line, directly behind the first pole
• He gets up and sprints out in anti-clockwise direction around the pole at five metres, and runs backwards to the start line – behind the start pole - where he drops down so that his chest is in contact with the floor
• He then gets up and sprints out around the 10m pole and back around the start pole (always running forwards) where he drops down so that his chest is in contact with the floor
• He then gets up and sprints out and around the 20m pole and then back to the start (always running forwards) to complete the repetition
• Sliding to the chest in the down-and-ups IS permitted

Click here to see a video clip of the test [ADD VIDEO]

The test format is as follows:

• Set one - 1 x 1 repetition
• Set two - 1 x 2 consecutive repetitions
• Set three - 1 x 2 consecutive repetitions
• Set four - 1 x 4 consecutive repetitions
• Set five - 1 x 1 repetition

The recovery time between repetitions is dictated by the time taken to complete the required repetition(s) i.e. the start of each set is fixed on a running clock so that the faster the completion time, the more rest the player receives.

Rest And Completion Timing

The table below indicates the times for the running clock and the estimated range of times for completion of each section of the test for the front five and back row groups.

The time for each player's repetition is recorded on the downloadable test results recording sheet (MS Word DOC 1.3MB), and one person should be made responsible for administering the running clock. This person is also responsible for informing players and testers of the content of the next set and the rest time to go. This person should also give the start commands for the whole group.

Front Five Test

Running Clock Time	Event	Estimated Duration of Repetition	Estimated End of Event Time	Average Rest time
0	Start of 1 x 1 repetition	20-25s	20-25s	20-25s
45s	Start of 1 x 2 consecutive repetitions	45-50s	1m30s-1m35s	40-45s
2m15s	Start of 1 x 2 consecutive repetitions	45-52s	3m00-3m07s	53-60s
4m00s	Start of 1 x 4 consecutive repetitions	1m40s-2m	5m40s-6m	30-50s
6m30s	Start of 1 x 1 repetition	22-27s	6m52s-6m57s	-

Back Row Test

 

Running Clock Time	Event	Estimated Duration of Repetition	Estimated End of Event Time	Average Rest time
0	Start of 1 x 1 repetition	20-25s	20-25s	20-25s
45s	Start of 1 x 2 consecutive repetitions	45-50s	1m30s-1m35s	40-45s
2m15s	Start of 1 x 2 consecutive repetitions	45-52s	3m00s-3m07s	53-60s
4m00s	Start of 1 x 4 consecutive repetitions	1m30s-1m40s	5m30s-5m40s	35-45s
6m15s	Start of 1 x 1 repetition	22-27s	6m52s-6m57s	-